Back to results
US 6,270,635 B1Granted
Consistent plating system for electroplating
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorChristy Mei-Chu Woo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A small plating solution reservoir of about 250-cc or less volume is used to provide plating of one wafer at a time with a precisely controlled, repeatable, plating solution. The reservoir is connected to basic plating solution and additives which are provided in desired concentrations by a valving and control system for single wafers and drained after the single wafer is plated.
Claims20
A plating system for plating objects comprising:
- a basic plating solution container capable of containing basic plating solution;
- an additive container capable of containing an additive for the basic plating solution;
- a plating solution reservoir connected to said plating solution container and said additive container, said plating solution reservoir for containing plating solution formed from the basic plating solution mixing with the additive, said plating solution reservoir capable of containing only sufficient plating solution for the single object;
- and
- a plating cell connected to said plating solution reservoir and capable of containing the single object, said plating cell capable of bathing the single object to be plated in the plating solution.
2 more elements
A semiconductor wafer plating system comprising:
- a basic plating solution container capable of containing basic plating solution;
- an additive container capable of containing an additive for the basic plating solution;
- a plating solution reservoir connected to said plating solution container and said additive container, said plating solution reservoir for containing plating solution formed from the basic plating solution mixing with the additive, said plating solution reservoir capable of containing only sufficient plating solution for a single wafer;
- and
- a plating cell capable of containing a single wafer to be plated and capable of bathing the single wafer with plating solution.
2 more elements
A plating system for plating semiconductor wafers comprising:
- a plating solution bath capable of containing a large volume of basic plating solution;
- an additive container capable of containing an additive for the basic plating solution;
- a plating solution reservoir consisting of a reservoir capable of containing less than about 250 cubic centimeters of plating solution, said plating solution reservoir connected to said plating solution bath and said additive container, said plating solution reservoir for containing the plating solution formed from the basic plating solution mixing with the additive;
- a plating cell capable of containing a single semiconductor wafer to be plated;
- and
- a pump connected to said plating solution reservoir capable of pumping the plating solution into said plating cell against said single semiconductor wafer.
3 more elements
A plating system for plating semiconductor wafers comprising:
- a plating solution container capable of containing basic plating solution;
- an additive container capable of containing an additive for the basic plating solution;
- a plating solution reservoir connected to said plating solution bath and said additive container, said plating solution reservoir for containing the plating solution formed from the basic plating solution mixing with the additive;
- a plating cell capable of containing a single semiconductor wafer to be plated;
- a return valve disposed between said plating cell and said plating solution reservoir capable of returning the plating solution to said plating solution reservoir;
- said return valve capable of draining said plating solution from said plating cell;
- and
- a control mechanism for controlling said valves for the mixing of the plating solution, said control mechanism for controlling the return of said plating solution from said plating cell for a predetermined number of semiconductor wafers and draining said plating cell after the predetermined number of semiconductor wafers.
5 more elements
A plating system for plating semiconductor wafers comprising:
- a basic plating solution container capable of containing basic plating solution;
- an additive container capable of containing an additive for the basic plating solution;
- a plating solution reservoir connected to said plating solution container and said additive container, said plating solution reservoir for containing plating solution formed from the basic plating solution mixing with the additive;
- and
- a plating cell connected to said plating solution reservoir and capable of containing the single object, said plating cell capable of bathing the single semiconductor wafer to be plated in the plating solution;
- a plating solution valve disposed between said plating solution bath and said plating solution reservoir for metering the flow of basic plating solution therebetween;
- an additive valve disposed between said additive container and said plating solution reservoir for metering the flow of additive therebetween;
- a return valve disposed between said plating cell and said plating solution reservoir capable of returning the plating solution to said plating solution reservoir, said return valve capable of draining said plating solution from said plating cell;
- and
- a control mechanism for controlling said valves for the mixing of the plating solution immediately before plating, said control mechanism for controlling the return and draining of said plating solution from said plating cell.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.